System and apparatus for providing network assistance for traffic handling in downlink streaming

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices are provided for streaming service in a fifth generation (5G) system (5GS) network. Various embodiments may provide for selecting appropriate network slices for provisioning media content and streaming service over the network. Desired network slice features may be indicated that correspond to service information.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/912,335, entitled “SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDINGNETWORK ASSISTANCE FOR TRAFFIC HANDLING IN DOWNLINK STREAMING” filedOct. 8, 2019, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to wireless communication systems, and moreparticularly to 5G Media Streaming (5GMS) Architecture.

INTRODUCTION

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). A wirelessmultiple-access communications system may include a number of basestations (BSs), each simultaneously supporting communications formultiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as userequipment (UE).

To meet the growing demands for expanded mobile broadband connectivity,wireless communication technologies are advancing from the long termevolution (LTE) technology to a next generation new radio (NR)technology, which may be referred to as 5^(th) Generation (5G). Forexample, NR is designed to provide a lower latency, a higher bandwidthor a higher throughput, and a higher reliability than LTE. NR isdesigned to operate over a wide array of spectrum bands, for example,from low-frequency bands below about 1 gigahertz (GHz) and mid-frequencybands from about 1 GHz to about 6 GHz, to high-frequency bands such asmillimeter wave (mmWave) bands. NR is also designed to operate acrossdifferent spectrum types, from licensed spectrum to unlicensed andshared spectrum. Spectrum sharing enables operators to opportunisticallyaggregate spectrums to dynamically support high-bandwidth services.Spectrum sharing can extend the benefit of NR technologies to operatingentities that may not have access to a licensed spectrum.

The improved latency, reliability, bandwidth, and/or throughput in NRenable various types of network deployments and/or services such asenhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable, low-latencycommunication (URLLC), and/or Internet of Things (IoT) services. Thedifferent types of services may have different traffic requirements(e.g., latency, bandwidth, reliability, and/or throughput).

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure toprovide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summaryis not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of thedisclosure and is intended neither to identify key or critical elementsof all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any orall aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present someconcepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in summary form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In one example embodiment, a method for provisioning a service from anetwork is discussed. The method may include requesting a sessioninformation with desired slice features corresponding to a streamingservice. The method may include receiving the session information,wherein the session information includes at least two network slices fordistribution of the streaming service. The method may include initiatinga media session of the streaming service with an application serverusing the session information. The method may include providing a mediaplayback of the streaming service received in the media session. Themethod may include selecting a media session route using at least oneof: a playback operation point, a traffic descriptor, a domaindescriptor, and an application descriptor. The media session route maybe further selected with information from a media application function.The at least two network slices may be selected by the media applicationfunction and provisioned for the distribution of the streaming service.The method may include initializing the streaming service by fetching anentry point to a media content. The media playback may be triggered byinvoking a media player with an entry point to the media content. Thesession information may further include at least one of: network sliceinformation, a Data Network Name, and a quality of service. The networkmay support 5G Media Streaming (5GMS).

In another example embodiment, an apparatus for provisioning a servicefrom a network is discussed. The apparatus may include a processor, theprocessor configured to, request a session information with desiredslice features corresponding to a streaming service, receive the sessioninformation, wherein the session information includes at least twonetwork slices for distribution of the streaming service, initiate amedia session of the streaming service with an application server usingthe session information, and provide a media playback of the streamingservice received in the media session. The processor may be furtherconfigured to, select a media session route using at least one of: aplayback operation point, a traffic descriptor, a domain descriptor, andan application descriptor. The media session route may be furtherselected with information from a media application function. The atleast two network slices may be selected by the media applicationfunction and provisioned for the distribution of the streaming service.The processor may be further configured to, initialize the streamingservice by fetching an entry point to a media content. The mediaplayback may be triggered by invoking a media player with an entry pointto the media content. The session information may further include atleast one of: network slice information, a Data Network Name, and aquality of service. The network may support 5G Media Streaming (5GMS).

In another example embodiment, an apparatus for provisioning a servicefrom a network is discussed. The apparatus may include a means forprocessing, the means for processing configured to, request a sessioninformation with desired slice features corresponding to a streamingservice, receive the session information, wherein the sessioninformation includes at least two network slices for distribution of thestreaming service, initiate a media session of the streaming servicewith an application server using the session information, and provide amedia playback of the streaming service received in the media session.The means for processing may be further configured to, select a mediasession route using at least one of: a playback operation point, atraffic descriptor, a domain descriptor, and an application descriptor.The media session route may be further selected with information from amedia application function. The at least two network slices may beselected by the media application function and provisioned for thedistribution of the streaming service. The means for processing may befurther configured to, initialize the streaming service by fetching anentry point to a media content. The media playback may be triggered byinvoking a media player with an entry point to the media content. Thesession information may further include at least one of: network sliceinformation, a Data Network Name, and a quality of service. The networkmay support 5G Media Streaming (5GMS).

In another example embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring computer executable code for provisioning a service from anetwork is discussed. The code when executed by a processor causes theprocessor to, request a session information with desired slice featurescorresponding to a streaming service, receive the session information,wherein the session information includes at least two network slices fordistribution of the streaming service, initiate a media session of thestreaming service with an application server using the sessioninformation, and provide a media playback of the streaming servicereceived in the media session. The processor may be further configuredto, select a media session route using at least one of: a playbackoperation point, a traffic descriptor, a domain descriptor, and anapplication descriptor. The media session route may be further selectedwith information from a media application function. The at least twonetwork slices may be selected by the media application function andprovisioned for the distribution of the streaming service. The processormay be further configured to, initialize the streaming service byfetching an entry point to a media content. The media playback may betriggered by invoking a media player with an entry point to the mediacontent. The session information may further include at least one of:network slice information, a Data Network Name, and a quality ofservice. The network may support 5G Media Streaming (5GMS).

Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewingthe following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Whilefeatures of the present invention may be discussed relative to certainembodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present inventioncan include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein.In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as havingcertain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also beused in accordance with the various embodiments of the inventiondiscussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may bediscussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should beunderstood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in variousdevices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless communication network system thatimplements network slicing according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a signaling diagram illustrating a network registration methodaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a user equipment (UE) according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station (BS) according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary network unit according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a signaling diagram illustrating an on-demand ultra-reliable,low-latency communication (URLLC) method with network slicing accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a signaling diagram illustrating an on-demand URLLC methodaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example flowchart diagram for a procedureaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The 5G Media Streaming (5GMS) architecture may allow external contentand service providers to create an Ingest and Distribution configuration(IDC) for content distribution. An IDC is optimized for mediadistribution over 5GS and leverages the capabilities of the 5GS to offera custom-made distribution for the media service provider. In someembodiments, the service provider may request assignment of more thanone network slice for the distribution. The service provider mayindicate desired network slice features that correspond to the serviceinformation. Upon successful assignment of the network slices for theservice, the network slices may be used by the service provider forcontent distribution.

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with theappended drawings, is intended as a description of variousconfigurations and is not intended to represent the only configurationsin which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detaileddescription includes specific details for the purpose of providing athorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may bepracticed without these specific details. In some instances, well-knownstructures and components are shown in block diagram form in order toavoid obscuring such concepts.

This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications systems,also referred to as wireless communications networks. In variousembodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wirelesscommunication networks such as code division multiple access (CDMA)networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA)networks, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks, 5^(th) Generation (5G)or new radio (NR) networks, as well as other communications networks. Asdescribed herein, the terms “networks” and “systems” may be usedinterchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM and the like. UTRA, E-UTRA,and GSM are part of universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). Inparticular, long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that usesE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documentsprovided from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project”(3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organizationnamed “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). These variousradio technologies and standards are known or are being developed. Forexample, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is acollaboration between groups of telecommunications associations thataims to define a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phonespecification. 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project whichwas aimed at improving the UMTS mobile phone standard. The 3GPP maydefine specifications for the next generation of mobile networks, mobilesystems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure is concerned withthe evolution of wireless technologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyondwith shared access to wireless spectrum between networks using acollection of new and different radio access technologies or radio airinterfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diversespectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented usingan OFDM-based unified, air interface. In order to achieve these goals,further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition todevelopment of the new radio technology for 5G NR networks. The 5G NRwill be capable of scaling to provide coverage (1) to a massive Internetof things (IoTs) with a ULtra-high density (e.g., ˜1 M nodes/km²),ultra-low complexity (e.g., ˜10 s of bits/sec), ultra-low energy (e.g.,˜10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage with the capability toreach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control withstrong security to safeguard sensitive personal, financial, orclassified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ˜99.9999%reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ˜1 ms), and users with wideranges of mobility or lack thereof; and (3) with enhanced mobilebroadband including extreme high capacity (e.g., ˜10 Tbps/km²), extremedata rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rate, 100+ Mbps user experienced rates),and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimizations.

The 5G NR may be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveforms withscalable numerology and transmission time interval (TTI); having acommon, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services andfeatures with a dynamic, low-latency time division duplex(TDD)/frequency division duplex (FDD) design; and with advanced wirelesstechnologies, such as massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO),robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmissions, advanced channel coding,and device-centric mobility. Scalability of the numerology in 5G NR,with scaling of subcarrier spacing, may efficiently address operatingdiverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. Forexample, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than3 GHz FDD/TDD implementations, subcarrier spacing may occur with 15 kHz,for example over 5, 10, 20 MHz, and the like bandwidth (BW). For othervarious outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 30 kHz over 80/100 MHz BW. Forother various indoor wideband implementations, using a TDD over theunlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing may occurwith 60 kHz over a 160 MHz BW. Finally, for various deploymentstransmitting with mmWave components at a TDD of 28 GHz, subcarrierspacing may occur with 120 kHz over a 500 MHz BW.

The scalable numerology of the 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI fordiverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example,shorter TTI may be used for low latency and high reliability, whilelonger TTI may be used for higher spectral efficiency. The efficientmultiplexing of long and short TTIs to allow transmissions to start onsymbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integratedsubframe design with uplink/downlink scheduling information, data, andacknowledgement in the same subframe. The self-contained integratedsubframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-basedshared spectrum, adaptive uplink/downlink that may be flexiblyconfigured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink anddownlink to meet the current traffic needs.

It will be appreciated that various aspects of prior systems may bediscussed in, for example, 3GPP TS 23.501, System architecture for the5G System (5GS), 3GPP TS 23.502, Procedures for the 5G System (5GS),3GPP TS 23.503, Policy and charging control framework for the 5G System(5GS); Stage 2, 3GPP TS 24.501, Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) protocol for 5GSystem (5GS); Stage 3, and 3GPP TS 24.526, User Equipment (UE) policiesfor 5G System (5GS); Stage 3.

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are furtherdescribed below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may beembodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure,function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative andnot limiting. Based on the teachings herein one of an ordinary level ofskill in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein maybe implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or moreof these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, anapparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using anynumber of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such an apparatusmay be implemented or such a method may be practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example,a method may be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus,and/or as instructions stored on a computer readable medium forexecution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect maycomprise at least one element of a claim.

NR may employ network slicing to configure multiple network slices tosupport traffic with different traffic requirements. A network slicegenerally refers to a logical network that comprises a set of networkfunctions and corresponding resources necessary to provide certainnetwork capabilities and network characteristics. A network slice mayinclude functions of an access network (AN) and a core network (CN). Anetwork slice instance (NSI) is an instantiation of a network slice,i.e. a deployed set of network functions delivering the intended networkslice services according to a network slice template.

In an example, a network slice comprises control plane and user planefunctionality and resources required to fulfill a particular service orset of services and may include: 1) core network control plane and userplane network functions, as well as their resources (in terms ofcompute, storage and network resources, including transport resourcesbetween the network functions); 2) a radio access network; and 3) in thecase of a network slice supporting a roaming service, a visitor publicland mobile network (VPLMN) part and a home PLMN (HPLMN) part.

In some examples, a UE may be a smartphone that requires multipleservices of different traffic requirements. For example, the UE mayrequire an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services with a highthroughput most of the time, but may require URLLC services with duringcertain time periods. Some examples of applications that may requireURLLC services may include extended reality (XR) applications,healthcare applications, and/or intelligent transport systemapplications. With network slicing, operators may typically deploy oneor more network slices with a high throughput over a certain frequencycarrier (e.g., F1) for serving eMBB services and one or more networkslices with a low-latency over another frequency carrier (e.g., F2) forserving URLLC services. The frequency carrier F2 may be configured witha communication configuration that is optimized for URLLC services. Forexample, the communication configuration for the frequency carrier F2may be a time-division duplexing (TDD) uplink/downlink (UL/DL)configuration with a numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing, transmissiontime intervals, and/or cyclic prefix lengths) that can provide a shortlatency (e.g., less than about one millisecond). While the frequencycarrier F2 optimized for URLLC services may also serve eMBB servicesand/or voice services, it may be expensive to carry eMBB services and/orvoice services over the URLLC frequency carrier F2. As such, operatorsmay configure network slices of different traffic requirements overdifferent frequency carriers to benefit from the network slicing.Accordingly, there is a need to provide mechanisms for a UE to requestURLLC services over a URLLC frequency carrier (e.g., F2) as needed whileconnected to an eMBB frequency carrier (e.g., F1).

The present application describes mechanisms for providing on-demandURLLC services. For example, a network may implement network slicing toserve services of different requirements over different network slicesand/or over different cell frequencies. The network may include a corenetwork and a radio access network (RAN). In an embodiment, a first cellfrequency of the network (e.g., in the RAN) may support an eMBB slice,but may not support a URLLC slice. Instead, a second cell frequency ofthe network (e.g., in the RAN) may support a URLLC slice. To enable a UEto establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session over a URLLC slice whilethe UE is accessing the network via the first cell frequency, the corenetwork may indicate that the URLLC slice is allowed based on thenetwork capable of providing a URLLC slice over another cell frequency(e.g., a second cell frequency). While the UE is on the first cellfrequency, the URLLC PDU session is inactive and may not have anyallocated user plane resource. Upon arrival of URLLC traffic at the UE,the UE may transmit a service request for the PDU session to activatethe PDU session. The network may instruct the UE to perform a handoverto second cell frequency, a dual-connectivity with the second cellfrequency, or a carried aggregation with the second cell frequency.After the UE is on the second cell frequency, the UE may communicateURLLC traffic in the URLLC PDU session over the URLLC slice in thesecond cell frequency.

In another embodiment, the network may configure an eMBB slice over afirst cell frequency and a second cell frequency, where eMBB servicesmay be served over the eMBB slice in the first cell frequency and URLLCservices may be served over the eMBB slice in the second cell frequency.The network may allow the UE to establish a PDU session for URLLC whilethe UE is accessing the network via the first cell frequency. However,the established URLLC PDU session is inactive and may not have anyallocated user plane resource. Upon arrival of URLLC traffic at the UE,the UE may transmit a service request for the PDU session to activatethe PDU session. The core network may request a BS operating over firstcell frequency to configure resources and/or quality of service (QoS)flow for the URLLC PDU session. The BS may instruct the UE to perform ahandover to second cell frequency, a dual-connectivity with the secondcell frequency, or a carried aggregation with the second cell frequency.The BS may reject the resource configuration request from the corenetwork and provide the core network with a reason or cause of therejection that the core network may re-initiate the resource and/or QoSflow setup after the handover or redirection.

Aspects of the present disclosure can provide several benefits. Forexample, the disclosed embodiments allow a UE to establish a URLLC PDUsession while the UE is on a cell frequency that does not support aURLLC slice or a URLLC service as long as the network includes a cellfrequency that supports a URLLC slice or a URLLC service. While thedisclosed embodiments are described in the context of eMBB services andURLLC services, the disclosed embodiments may be applied to any suitabletypes of services.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network 100 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. The network 100 may be a 5Gnetwork. The network 100 includes a number of base stations (BSs) 105(individually labeled as 105 a, 105 b, 105 c, 105 d, 105 e, and 105 f)and other network entities. A BS 105 may be a station that communicateswith UEs 115 and may also be referred to as an evolved node B (eNB), anext generation eNB (gNB), an access point, and the like. Each BS 105may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to this particular geographic coveragearea of a BS 105 and/or a BS subsystem serving the coverage area,depending on the context in which the term is used.

A BS 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell or a smallcell, such as a pico cell or a femto cell, and/or other types of cell. Amacro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEswith service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell, suchas a pico cell, would generally cover a relatively smaller geographicarea and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptionswith the network provider. A small cell, such as a femto cell, wouldalso generally cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home)and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restrictedaccess by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in aclosed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, and the like).A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a smallcell may be referred to as a small cell BS, a pico BS, a femto BS or ahome BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the BSs 105 d and 105 e may beregular macro BSs, while the BSs 105 a-105 c may be macro BSs enabledwith one of three dimension (3D), full dimension (FD), or massive MIMO.The BSs 105 a-105 c may take advantage of their higher dimension MIMOcapabilities to exploit 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuthbeamforming to increase coverage and capacity. The BS 105 f may be asmall cell BS which may be a home node or portable access point. A BS105 may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and the like)cells.

The network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. Forsynchronous operation, the BSs may have similar frame timing, andtransmissions from different BSs may be approximately aligned in time.For asynchronous operation, the BSs may have different frame timing, andtransmissions from different BSs may not be aligned in time.

The UEs 115 are dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and eachUE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also be referred to asa terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, or the like.A UE 115 may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), awireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, atablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless localloop (WLL) station, or the like. In one aspect, a UE 115 may be a devicethat includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In anotheraspect, a UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In someaspects, the UEs 115 that do not include UICCs may also be referred toas IoT devices or internet of everything (IoE) devices. The UEs 115a-115 d are examples of mobile smart phone-type devices accessingnetwork 100. A UE 115 may also be a machine specifically configured forconnected communication, including machine type communication (MTC),enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and the like. The UEs 115e-115 k are examples of various machines configured for communicationthat access the network 100. A UE 115 may be able to communicate withany type of the BSs, whether macro BS, small cell, or the like. In FIG.1, a lightning bolt (e.g., communication links) indicates wirelesstransmissions between a UE 115 and a serving BS 105, which is a BSdesignated to serve the UE 115 on the downlink and/or uplink, or desiredtransmission between BSs, and backhaul transmissions between BSs.

In operation, the BSs 105 a-105 c may serve the UEs 115 a and 115 busing 3D beamforming and coordinated spatial techniques, such ascoordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity. The macro BS 105 dmay perform backhaul communications with the BSs 105 a-105 c, as well assmall cell, the BS 105 f. The macro BS 105 d may also transmitsmulticast services which are subscribed to and received by the UEs 115 cand 115 d. Such multicast services may include mobile television orstream video, or may include other services for providing communityinformation, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber alertsor gray alerts.

The BSs 105 may also communicate with a core network. The core networkmay provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking,Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, ormobility functions. At least some of the BSs 105 (e.g., which may be anexample of a gNB or an access node controller (ANC)) may interface withthe core network through backhaul links (e.g., NG-C, NG-U, etc.) and mayperform radio configuration and scheduling for communication with theUEs 115. In various examples, the BSs 105 may communicate, eitherdirectly or indirectly (e.g., through core network), with each otherover backhaul links (e.g., X1, X2, etc.), which may be wired or wirelesscommunication links.

The network 100 may also support mission critical communications withultra-reliable and redundant links for mission critical devices, such asthe UE 115 e, which may be a drone. Redundant communication links withthe UE 115 e may include links from the macro BSs 105 d and 105 e, aswell as links from the small cell BS 105 f. Other machine type devices,such as the UE 115 f (e.g., a thermometer), the UE 115 g (e.g., smartmeter), and UE 115 h (e.g., wearable device) may communicate through thenetwork 100 either directly with BSs, such as the small cell BS 105 f,and the macro BS 105 e, or in multi-hop configurations by communicatingwith another user device which relays its information to the network,such as the UE 115 f communicating temperature measurement informationto the smart meter, the UE 115 g, which is then reported to the networkthrough the small cell BS 105 f. The network 100 may also provideadditional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD/FDDcommunications, such as in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)

In some implementations, the network 100 utilizes OFDM-based waveformsfor communications. An OFDM-based system may partition the system BWinto multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonlyreferred to as subcarriers, tones, bins, or the like. Each subcarriermay be modulated with data. In some instances, the subcarrier spacingbetween adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number ofsubcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system BW. The system BW mayalso be partitioned into subbands. In other instances, the subcarrierspacing and/or the duration of TTIs may be scalable.

In an embodiment, the BSs 105 can assign or schedule transmissionresources (e.g., in the form of time-frequency resource blocks (RB)) fordownlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions in the network 100. DLrefers to the transmission direction from a BS 105 to a UE 115, whereasUL refers to the transmission direction from a UE 115 to a BS 105. Thecommunication can be in the form of radio frames. A radio frame may bedivided into a plurality of subframes or slots, for example, about 10.Each slot may be further divided into mini-slots. In a FDD mode,simultaneous UL and DL transmissions may occur in different frequencybands. For example, each subframe includes a UL subframe in a ULfrequency band and a DL subframe in a DL frequency band. In a TDD mode,UL and DL transmissions occur at different time periods using the samefrequency band. For example, a subset of the subframes (e.g., DLsubframes) in a radio frame may be used for DL transmissions and anothersubset of the subframes (e.g., UL subframes) in the radio frame may beused for UL transmissions.

The DL subframes and the UL subframes can be further divided intoseveral regions. For example, each DL or UL subframe may havepre-defined regions for transmissions of reference signals, controlinformation, and data. Reference signals are predetermined signals thatfacilitate the communications between the BSs 105 and the UEs 115. Forexample, a reference signal can have a particular pilot pattern orstructure, where pilot tones may span across an operational BW orfrequency band, each positioned at a pre-defined time and a pre-definedfrequency. For example, a BS 105 may transmit cell specific referencesignals (CRSs) and/or channel state information—reference signals(CSI-RSs) to enable a UE 115 to estimate a DL channel. Similarly, a UE115 may transmit sounding reference signals (SRSs) to enable a BS 105 toestimate a UL channel. Control information may include resourceassignments and protocol controls. Data may include protocol data and/oroperational data. In some embodiments, the BSs 105 and the UEs 115 maycommunicate using self-contained subframes. A self-contained subframemay include a portion for DL communication and a portion for ULcommunication. A self-contained subframe can be DL-centric orUL-centric. A DL-centric subframe may include a longer duration for DLcommunication than for UL communication. A UL-centric subframe mayinclude a longer duration for UL communication than for ULcommunication.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may be an NR network deployed over alicensed spectrum. The BSs 105 can transmit synchronization signals(e.g., including a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondarysynchronization signal (SSS)) in the network 100 to facilitatesynchronization. The BSs 105 can broadcast system information associatedwith the network 100 (e.g., including a master information block (MIB),remaining system information (RMSI), and other system information (OSI))to facilitate initial network access. In some instances, the BSs 105 maybroadcast the PSS, the SSS, and/or the MIB in the form ofsynchronization signal block (SSBs) over a physical broadcast channel(PBCH) and may broadcast the RMSI and/or the OSI over a physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH).

In an embodiment, a UE 115 attempting to access the network 100 mayperform an initial cell search by detecting a PSS from a BS 105. The PSSmay enable synchronization of period timing and may indicate a physicallayer identity value. The UE 115 may then receive a SSS. The SSS mayenable radio frame synchronization, and may provide a cell identityvalue, which may be combined with the physical layer identity value toidentify the cell. The PSS and the SSS may be located in a centralportion of a carrier or any suitable frequencies within the carrier.

After receiving the PSS and SSS, the UE 115 may receive a MIB. The MIBmay include system information for initial network access and schedulinginformation for RMSI and/or OSI. After decoding the MIB, the UE 115 mayreceive RMSI and/or OSI. The RMSI and/or OSI may include radio resourcecontrol (RRC) information related to random access channel (RACH)procedures, paging, control resource set (CORESET) for physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) monitoring, physical uplink control channel(PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), power control, and SRS.

After obtaining the MIB, the RMSI and/or the OSI, the UE 115 can performa random access procedure to establish a connection with the BS 105. Insome examples, the random access procedure may be a four-step randomaccess procedure. For example, the UE 115 may transmit a random accesspreamble and the BS 105 may respond with a random access response. Therandom access response (RAR) may include a detected random accesspreamble identifier (ID) corresponding to the random access preamble,timing advance (TA) information, a UL grant, a temporary cell-radionetwork temporary identifier (C-RNTI), and/or a backoff indicator. Uponreceiving the random access response, the UE 115 may transmit aconnection request to the BS 105 and the BS 105 may respond with aconnection response. The connection response may indicate a contentionresolution. In some examples, the random access preamble, the RAR, theconnection request, and the connection response can be referred to as amessage 1 (MSG 1), a message 2 (MSG 2), a message 3 (MSG 3), and amessage 4 (MSG 4), respectively. In some examples, the random accessprocedure may be a two-step random access procedure, where the UE 115may transmit a random access preamble and a connection request in asingle transmission and the BS 105 may respond by transmitting a randomaccess response and a connection response in a single transmission. Thecombined random access preamble and connection request in the two-steprandom access procedure may be referred to as a message A (MSG A). Thecombined random access response and connection response in the two-steprandom access procedure may be referred to as a message B (MSG B).

After establishing a connection, the UE 115 and the BS 105 can enter anormal operation stage, where operational data may be exchanged. Forexample, the BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL and/or DLcommunications. The BS 105 may transmit UL and/or DL scheduling grantsto the UE 115 via a PDCCH. The BS 105 may transmit a DL communicationsignal to the UE 115 via a PDSCH according to a DL scheduling grant. TheUE 115 may transmit a UL communication signal to the BS 105 via a PUSCHand/or PUCCH according to a UL scheduling grant. The connection may bereferred to as an RRC connection. When the UE 115 is actively exchangingdata with the BS 105, the UE 115 is in an RRC connected state.

In an example, after establishing a connection with the BS 105, the UE115 may initiate an initial network attachment procedure with thenetwork 100. The BS 105 may coordinate with various network entities orfifth generation core (5GC) entities, such as an access and mobilityfunction (AMF), a serving gateway (SGW), and/or a packet data networkgateway (PGW), to complete the network attachment procedure. Forexample, the BS 105 may coordinate with the network entities in the 5GCto identify the UE, authenticate the UE, and/or authorize the UE forsending and/or receiving data in the network 100. In addition, the AMFmay assign the UE with a group of tracking areas (TAs). Once the networkattach procedure succeeds, a context is established for the UE 115 inthe AMF. After a successful attach to the network, the UE 115 can movearound the current TA. For tracking area update (TAU), the BS 105 mayrequest the UE 115 to update the network 100 with the UE 115's locationperiodically. Alternatively, the UE 115 may only report the UE 115'slocation to the network 100 when entering a new TA. The TAU allows thenetwork 100 to quickly locate the UE 115 and page the UE 115 uponreceiving an incoming data packet or call for the UE 115. A registrationarea may have one or more tracking areas. A tracking area may have oneor more cells. Additionally, a tracking area identity (TAI) is anidentifier that is used to track tracking areas. The TAI may beconstructed from the PLMN identity to which the tracking area belongsand the tracking area code (TAC) of the tracking area.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may operate over a system BW or acomponent carrier BW. The network 100 may partition the system BW intomultiple BWPs (e.g., portions). A BS 105 may dynamically assign a UE 115to operate over a certain BWP (e.g., a certain portion of the systemBW). The assigned BWP may be referred to as the active BWP. The UE 115may monitor the active BWP for signaling information from the BS 105.The BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL or DL communications in theactive BWP. In some embodiments, a BS 105 may assign a pair of BWPswithin the component carrier to a UE 115 for UL and DL communications.For example, the BWP pair may include one BWP for UL communications andone BWP for DL communications.

In an embodiment, the network 100 may be a 5G network. The network 100may implement network slicing to create multiple isolated virtualnetworks or independent logical network slices to support a variety ofapplication services in the network 100. The network 100 may configureeach network slice according to the specific needs of the services beingserved. In an embodiment, the network 100 may configure a network slicewith a high throughput for serving eMBB services and configure anothernetwork slice with a low latency and high reliability for serving URLLCservices. The network 100 may configure network slices with differenttraffic requirements over different frequency carriers. For example, thenetwork 100 may configure different frequency carriers with differentcommunication configuration. The network 100 may configure a frequencycarrier F1 with a communication configuration that can provide a highthroughput and another frequency carrier F2 with a communicationconfiguration that can provide a low latency. The network 100 mayconfigure one or more network slices in the frequency carrier F1 forserving eMBB services. The network 100 may configure one or more networkslices in the frequency carrier F2 for serving URLLC services. A UE 115may be served by a BS 105 in the eMBB frequency carrier F1 and mayreceive eMBB services over one or more of the eMBB network slices on F1.When the UE 115 detected arrival of URLLC data, the UE 115 may requireURLLC services. Mechanisms for a UE 115 to request URLLC services ondemand while being served over an eMBB frequency carrier are describedin greater detail herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless communication network 200 that implementsnetwork slicing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.The network 200 may correspond to a portion of the network 100. Thenetwork 200 may be a 5G network. The network 200 includes a radio accessnetwork (RAN) 240 in communication with a core network 230 via backhaullinks 232. For simplicity of illustration and discussions, FIG. 2illustrates three BSs 205 a, 205 b, and 205 c and three UEs 215 in theRAN 240. However, the RAN 240 may be scaled to include any suitablenumber of BSs (e.g., about 2, 4, 5, or more) and/or any suitable numberof UEs (e.g., up to millions). The BSs 205 are similar to the BSs 105.The UEs 115 are similar to the UEs 115.

In the network 200, the BS 205 a may serve UEs 215 over a frequencycarrier 220 (shown as F1) in an area 210 a, the BS 205 b may serve UEs215 over another frequency carrier 222 (shown as F2) in an area 210 b,and the BS 205 c may serve UEs 215 over the frequency carrier 222 in anarea 210 c. The frequency carrier 220 and the frequency carrier 222 maybe at any suitable frequency. In some examples, the frequency carrier220 and the frequency carrier 222 can be at sub-6 gigahertz (GHz) bands.In some examples, the frequency carrier 220 and the frequency carrier222 can be at mmWav bands. In some examples, one of the frequencycarriers 220 and 222 can be at a sub-6 GHz band and the other frequencycarriers 220 and 222 can be at a mmWav band.

In an example, the UEs 215 may be a smart phone requiring eMBB servicesand may additionally require URLLC services. In an example, the UE 215 amay include an extended reality (XR) application and may require anURLLC service for communicating XR application data. In an example, theUE 215 a may be a remote diagnostic device with sensors that requires anURLLC service for communicating health monitoring information. In anexample, the UE 215 a may be associated with an intelligenttransportation system that requires an URLLC service for communicatingtransport information. In some examples, the UE 215 a may require aneMBB service and URLLC services at the same time.

In an example, the core network 230 is a 5G core network and may providenetwork functions such as an authentication server function (AUSF), anAMF, a session management function (SMF), a policy control function(PCF), a user plane function (UPF), an application functions (AFs), aunified data repository (UDR), an unstructured data storage networkfunction (UDSF), a network exposure function (NEF), an NF repositoryfunction (NRF), a unified data management function (UDM), and/or anetwork slice selection function (NSSF). The BSs 205 may coordinate withthe core network 230 in serving the UEs 215.

In an example, the network 200 may implement network slicing toprovision for the eMBB services and the URLLC services. For example, thenetwork 200 may configure one or more network slices 250 over thefrequency carrier F1 220 and one or more network slices 252 over thefrequency carrier F2 222. Each of the network slices 250 and 252 mayfunction as a logical network and may implement AN and CNfunctionalities as described above. In an example, all the networkslices 250 may serve one type of services (e.g., eMBB services or URLLCservices). In an example, at least one network slice 250 may serve adifferent type of services than the other network slices 250. Similarly,in an example, all the network slices 252 may serve one type of services(e.g., eMBB services or URLLC services). In an example, at least onenetwork slice 252 may serve a different type of services than the othernetwork slices 252.

In an example, the network slices 250 the frequency carrier F1 220 mayserve one or more types of services and the network slices 252 thefrequency carrier F2 220 may serve one or more types of services, but atleast one type of services is served over by one of the network slices250 and one of the network slices 252. For example, all network slices250 may serve MBB services, at least one network slice 252 may serveURLLC services, and at least one network slice 252 may serve eMBBservices. Alternatively, at least one network slice 250 may serve MBBservices, at least one network slices 250 may serve voice services, atleast one network slice 252 may serve URLLC services, and at least onenetwork slice 252 may serve eMBB services.

In an example, the network slices 250 and the network slices 252 mayserve different types of services. For example, the network slices 250over the frequency carrier 220 may serve eMBB services, but may notserve URLLC services, whereas the network slices 252 over the frequencycarrier 222 may serve URLLC services, but may not serve eMBB services.

In some examples, the frequency carrier 220 may be at about 2.6 GHz andmay be shared with a LTE TDD network, whereas the frequency carrier 222may be at about 4.9 GHz which may not be shared with a LTE TDD network.Due to the sharing with the LTE TDD network on the 2.6 GHz carrier,communications over the 2.6 GHz carrier may have various restrictions.For example, UL-to-DL and/or DL-to-UL switching time for communicationover the 2.6 GHz carrier is required to align to the UL-to-DL and/orDL-to-UL switching time of the LTE TDD network. Thus, some operators maydeploy eMBB slices, but not URLLC slices over the 2.6 GHz carrier.Instead, the operators may deploy URLLC slices over the less restrictive4.9 GHz carrier.

In some instances, while the UE 215 a is served by the BS 205 a over thefrequency carrier 220 for an eMBB service in a network slice 250, the UE215 a may launch an application requiring an URLLC service. Thus, thenetwork 200 is required to direct the UE 215 a to the frequency carrier222 so that the UE 215 a may receive the URLLC service in a networkslice 252. However, the selection and/or configuration of network slicesare typically performed by the core network 230 as descried in greaterdetail herein. The UE 215 a may not have knowledge about which frequencycarrier or cell in the network 200 may provide a network slice that cansupport an URLLC service. A BS 205 may be aware of the active networkslice used by a UE 215, but may not be aware of which network slice isavailable or allowed in which frequency carrier over the network 200.

FIG. 3 is a signaling diagram illustrating a network slicingprovisioning method 300 according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The method 300 may be implemented by a UE similar to the UEs115 and 215, a BS similar to the BSs 105 and 205, and an AMF (e.g., acomponent of a core network such as the core network 230). The BS andthe AMF may generally be referred to as the network side. Steps of themethod 300 can be executed by computing devices (e.g., a processor,processing circuit, and/or other suitable component) of the BS, the UE,and an AMF component. As illustrated, the method 300 includes a numberof enumerated steps, but embodiments of the method 300 may includeadditional steps before, after, and in between the enumerated steps. Insome embodiments, one or more of the enumerated steps may be omitted orperformed in a different order.

At step 310, the BS transmits a next generation (NG) setup requestmessage to the AMF. The NG setup request message indicates one or morenetwork slices (e.g., the network slices 250) supported by the BS. In anexample, the NG setup request message may include a single-network sliceselection assistance information (S-NSSAI) list per tracking area.

At step 320, in response to the NG setup request message, the AMFtransmits a NG setup response message to the BS. Based on the NG setuprequest message, the AMF may have knowledge of the network slicessupported by the BS and/or the tracking area of the BS. The AMF mayperform similar NG setup request and response message exchange withother BSs, and thus the AMF may have knowledge of network slicessupported by the other BSs and/or other tracking areas.

At step 330, the UE transmits an RRC connection setup completion messageto the BS. For example, the UE may have completed a successful randomaccess procedure with the BS. The random access procedure may includethe exchange of MSG 1, MSG 2, MSG 3, and MSG 4 described above withrespect to FIG. 1. In some instances, the RRC connection setupcompletion message is exchanged after MSG 4, and may be referred to as amessage 5 (MSG 5).

In an example, the RRC connection setup completion message may include aNAS registration request. The NAS registration request may includerequested-NSSAI. The requested-NSSAI may indicate one or more networkslices (e.g., the network slices 250) requested by the UE, for example,based on applications that may be used by the UE or potentially used bythe UE.

At step 340, upon receiving the RRC connection setup completion messageindicating NAS registration message, the BS transmits an initial UEmessage to the AMF. The initial UE message may include the NASregistration request.

At step 350, in response to the initial UE message, the AMF transmits aninitial UE context setup request message to the BS. The initial UEcontext setup request message may include allowed NSSAI. The allowedNSSAI may indicate requested network slices that are allowed in thetracking area. The allowed NSSAI may be a minimal common set ofrequested-NSSAI, subscribed NSSAI (e.g., based on the UE'ssubscription), and NSSAI supported by a current tracking area. Theinitial UE context setup request message may include a NAS registrationaccept message including the allowed NSSAI. In an example, the UE mayinclude a slice A (e.g., the network slice 250) and a slice B (e.g., thenetwork slice 252) in the requested-NSSAI at the step 330. The AMF mayallow slice A, but may reject slice B. In such an example, the AMF mayinclude allowed NSSAI and rejected NSSAI in the initial UE context setuprequest message. The allowed NSSAI may indicate the slice A and therejected NSSAI may indicate the slice B.

At step 360, after receiving the initial UE context setup requestmessage from the AMF, the BS and the UE perform a security mode controlprocedure to exchange various security mode messages.

At step 370, after completing the security mode control procedure, theBS transmits an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. The RRCreconfiguration message may include a NAS registration accept messageindicating allowed NSSAI. At this time, the UE may have a UE context 380including configured NSSAI (e.g., based on a pre-configuration on theUE), the requested NSSAI, the allowed NSSAI, and/or the rejected NSSAI.The BS may have a UE context 382 including the allowed NSSAI and NSSAIof active PDU sessions of the UE. The AMF may include a UE context 384including subscribed NSSAI, the requested NSSAI, the allowed NSSAI, andthe rejected NSSAI.

Current network slicing technology may have various restrictions. Forexample, slice support is uniform in a tracking area. Frequency carrierswith different slice support are typically configured in differenttracking areas. All slices in allowed NSSAI are support by a trackingarea. The UE may not be allowed to request a slice that is indicated inthe rejected NSSAI except when there is a tracking area change. The UEmay only request a PDU session establishment over a slice within theallowed NSSAI. The restrictions on the current network slicingtechnology and the lack of slice-to-frequency mapping informationavailable at the BS and/or the UE may cause challenges in providingon-demand URLLC services.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides various techniques to allowa UE (e.g., the UEs 115 and/or 215) to request for a URLLC PDU sessionwhile the UE is on a cell frequency that does not support a URLLC sliceor a URLLC service.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary UE 400 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The UE 400 may be a UE 115 or aUE 215 discussed above in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. As shown, the UE400 may include a processor 402, a memory 404, an application module407, a network slicing module 408, a transceiver 410 including a modemsubsystem 412 and a radio frequency (RF) unit 414, and one or moreantennas 416. These elements may be in direct or indirect communicationwith each other, for example via one or more buses.

The processor 402 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device,another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereofconfigured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 402may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration.

The memory 404 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 402), random access memory (RAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM),read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasableprogrammable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state memorydevice, hard disk drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatilememory, or a combination of different types of memory. In an embodiment,the memory 404 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 404 may store, or have recorded thereon, instructions 406. Theinstructions 406 may include instructions that, when executed by theprocessor 402, cause the processor 402 to perform the operationsdescribed herein with reference to the UEs 115 in connection withembodiments of the present disclosure, for example, aspects of FIGS. 3,7, 8, and/or 11. Instructions 406 may also be referred to as programcode. The program code may be for causing a wireless communicationdevice to perform these operations, for example by causing one or moreprocessors (such as processor 402) to control or command the wirelesscommunication device to do so. The terms “instructions” and “code”should be interpreted broadly to include any type of computer-readablestatement(s). For example, the terms “instructions” and “code” may referto one or more programs, routines, sub-routines, functions, procedures,etc. “Instructions” and “code” may include a single computer-readablestatement or many computer-readable statements.

Each of the application module 407 and the network slicing module 408may be implemented via hardware, software, or combinations thereof. Forexample, each of the application module 407 and the network slicingmodule 408 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/orinstructions 406 stored in the memory 404 and executed by the processor402. In some examples, the application module 407 and the networkslicing module 408 can be integrated within the modem subsystem 412. Forexample, the application module 407 and the network slicing module 408can be implemented by a combination of software components (e.g.,executed by a DSP or a general processor) and hardware components (e.g.,logic gates and circuitry) within the modem subsystem 412. In someexamples, a UE may include one or both of the application module 407 andthe network slicing module 408. In other examples, a UE may include allof the application module 407 and the network slicing module 408.

The application module 407 and the network slicing module 408 may beused for various aspects of the present disclosure, for example, aspectsof FIGS. FIGS. 3, 7, 8, and/or 11. The application module 407 isconfigured to implement two or more applications. The applications mayhave different service requirements (e.g., latency and/or bandwidth).The applications may include at least an eMBB application (e.g.,streaming and/or file transfer) and a URLLC application (e.g., XR,remote healthcare related, or intelligent transport related). Theapplication module 407 is configured to transmit a request to setup aPDU session for an eMBB service or a URLLC service to the networkslicing module 408.

The network slicing module 408 is configured to perform an associationwith a BS (e.g., the BSs 105 and/or 205) operating over a first cellfrequency (e.g., the frequency carrier 220) of a network (e.g., thenetworks 100 and/or 200). The association can be based on a cellselection, a camping procedure, a random access procedure, and/or a RRCconnection set up. The network slicing module 408 is configured totransmit, via the BS in the first cell frequency to a core network(e.g., the core network 230) of the network, a network registrationindicating one or more network slices (e.g., eMBB slices and/or URLLCslices similar to e the network slices 250 and 252) of the network, andreceive, from the core network, a network registration responseindicating at least a first network slice (e.g., a URLLC slice) of theone or more requested network slices is allowed while the requestednetwork slice is not provided by the first cell frequency. Theindication of the un-supported first network slice being allowed isbased on a second cell frequency of the network providing the firstnetwork slice. The network slicing module 408 is configured to requestfor a PDU session over the first network slice while the UE 400 is onthe first cell frequency, request the network to activate the PDUsession upon arrival of data (e.g., URLLC data) requiring a service overthe PDU session (e.g., based on need), receive an instruction to performa handover to a second cell frequency that provides the network slice,perform a dual-connectivity with the second cell frequency, or perform acarrier aggregation with the second cell frequency, perform thehandover, the dual-connectivity, and/or the carrier aggregation based onthe received instruction, and/or communicate the data over the PDUsession on the second cell frequency after performing the handover, thedual-connectivity, or the carrier aggregation.

In an embodiment, the network slicing module 408 is configured totransmit a request for a PDU session to serve a particular traffic(e.g., URLLC traffic) while the UE 400 is on a cell frequency that doesnot support the particular traffic, request the network to activate thePDU session upon arrival of the particular traffic (e.g., URLLC data) atthe UE 400, receive an instruction to perform a handover to a secondcell frequency that provides the PDU session, perform adual-connectivity with the second cell frequency, or perform a carrieraggregation with the second cell frequency, perform a dual-connectivitywith the second cell frequency, or perform a carrier aggregation withthe second cell frequency based on the received instruction, and/orcommunicate the particular traffic over the PDU session on the secondcell frequency after performing the handover, the dual-connectivity, orthe carrier aggregation. Mechanisms for on-demand services (e.g., URLLCservices) are described in greater detail herein.

As shown, the transceiver 410 may include the modem subsystem 412 andthe RF unit 414. The transceiver 410 can be configured to communicatebi-directionally with other devices, such as the BSs 105. The modemsubsystem 412 may be configured to modulate and/or encode the data fromthe memory 404 and/or the network slicing module 408 according to amodulation and coding scheme (MCS), e.g., a low-density parity check(LDPC) coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional codingscheme, a digital beamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 414 may beconfigured to process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion ordigital to analog conversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data (e.g., NASmessages, RRC messages, eMBB data, URLLC data) from the modem subsystem412 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissions originating fromanother source such as a UE 115 or a BS 105. The RF unit 414 may befurther configured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with thedigital beamforming. Although shown as integrated together intransceiver 410, the modem subsystem 412 and the RF unit 414 may beseparate devices that are coupled together at the UE 115 to enable theUE 115 to communicate with other devices.

The RF unit 414 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antennas 416 fortransmission to one or more other devices. The antennas 416 may furtherreceive data messages transmitted from other devices. The antennas 416may provide the received data messages for processing and/ordemodulation at the transceiver 410. The transceiver 410 may provide thedemodulated and decoded data (e.g., NAS messages, RRC messages, URLLCdata, eMBB data) to the network slicing module 408 for processing. Theantennas 416 may include multiple antennas of similar or differentdesigns in order to sustain multiple transmission links. The RF unit 414may configure the antennas 416.

In an embodiment, the UE 400 can include multiple transceivers 410implementing different RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In an embodiment, the UE400 can include a single transceiver 410 implementing multiple RATs(e.g., NR and LTE). In an embodiment, the transceiver 410 can includevarious components, where different combinations of components canimplement different RATs.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary BS 500 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The BS 500 may be a BS 105 or BS205 as discussed above in FIGS. 1 and 3, respectively. As shown, the BS500 may include a processor 502, a memory 504, a network slicing module508, a transceiver 510 including a modem subsystem 512 and a RF unit514, and one or more antennas 516. These elements may be in direct orindirect communication with each other, for example via one or morebuses.

The processor 502 may have various features as a specific-typeprocessor. For example, these may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, acontroller, a FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device,or any combination thereof configured to perform the operationsdescribed herein. The processor 502 may also be implemented as acombination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The memory 504 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 502), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, asolid state memory device, one or more hard disk drives, memristor-basedarrays, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or acombination of different types of memory. In some embodiments, thememory 504 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 504 may store instructions 506. The instructions 506 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 502, cause theprocessor 502 to perform operations described herein, for example,aspects of FIGS. 3 and 7-10. Instructions 506 may also be referred to ascode, which may be interpreted broadly to include any type ofcomputer-readable statement(s) as discussed above with respect to FIG.4.

The network slicing module 508 may be implemented via hardware,software, or combinations thereof. For example, the network slicingmodule 508 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/orinstructions 506 stored in the memory 504 and executed by the processor502. In some examples, the network slicing module 508 can be integratedwithin the modem subsystem 512. For example, the network slicing module508 can be implemented by a combination of software components (e.g.,executed by a DSP or a general processor) and hardware components (e.g.,logic gates and circuitry) within the modem subsystem 512.

The network slicing module 508 may be used for various aspects of thepresent disclosure, for example, aspects of FIGS. 3 and 7-10. Thenetwork slicing module 508 is configured to serve a UE (e.g., the UEs115, 215, and/or 400) over a first cell frequency (e.g., the frequencycarrier 220), receive, from the UE, a network registration requestindicating one or more network slices (e.g., eMBB slices and/or URLLCslices similar to the network slices 250 and 252) of the network,forward the network registration request to the BS, receive, from thecore network, a network registration response indicating at least afirst network slice (e.g., a URLLC slice) of the one or more requestednetwork slices is allowed while the requested network slice is notprovided by the first cell frequency, and/or forward, to the UE, thenetwork registration response. The indication of the un-supported firstnetwork slice being allowed is based on a second cell frequency of thenetwork providing the first network slice. The network slicing module508 is configured to receive, from the UE, a request for a PDU sessionover the first network slice, forward the PDU session request to thecore network, receive, from the UE, a request to activate the PDUsession upon arrival of data (e.g., URLLC data) requiring a service overthe PDU session (e.g., based on need), forward the PDU sessionactivation request to the core network, transmit an instruction to theUE requesting the UE to perform a handover to a second cell frequencythat provides the network slice, perform a dual-connectivity with thesecond cell frequency, or perform a carrier aggregation with the secondcell frequency.

In an embodiment, the network slicing module 508 is configured toreceive PDU session resource setup request, from the core network (e.g.,based on a PDU session activation request from the UE) and transmit aPDU session resource setup response to the core network. The networkslicing module 508 may include, in the PDU session resources setupresponse, an indication that the PDU session resource setup request isaccepted. Alternatively, the network slicing module may include, in thePDU session resources setup response, an indication that the PDU sessionresource setup request is rejected and a cause or reason of therejection (e.g., due to an on-demand URLLC has been triggered or aservice-based mobility has been triggered). Mechanisms for provisioningon-demand URLLC services are described in greater detail herein.

As shown, the transceiver 510 may include the modem subsystem 512 andthe RF unit 514. The transceiver 510 can be configured to communicatebi-directionally with other devices, such as the UEs 115, 302, 302,and/or 400 and/or another core network element. The modem subsystem 512may be configured to modulate and/or encode data according to a MCS,e.g., a LDPC coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutionalcoding scheme, a digital beamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 514 may beconfigured to process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion ordigital to analog conversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data (e.g., NASmessages, RRC messages, URLLC data, and/or eMBB data) from the modemsubsystem 512 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissionsoriginating from another source such as a UE 115, 302, or 400. The RFunit 514 may be further configured to perform analog beamforming inconjunction with the digital beamforming. Although shown as integratedtogether in transceiver 510, the modem subsystem 512 and/or the RF unit514 may be separate devices that are coupled together at the BS 105 toenable the BS 105 to communicate with other devices.

The RF unit 514 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g.data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one ormore data packets and other information), to the antennas 516 fortransmission to one or more other devices. This may include, forexample, transmission of information to complete attachment to a networkand communication with a camped UE 115, 302, or 400 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The antennas 516 may furtherreceive data messages transmitted from other devices and provide thereceived data messages for processing and/or demodulation at thetransceiver 510. The transceiver 510 may provide the demodulated anddecoded data (e.g., NAS messages, RRC messages, URLLC data, and/or eMBBdata) to the network slicing 508 for processing. The antennas 516 mayinclude multiple antennas of similar or different designs in order tosustain multiple transmission links.

In an embodiment, the BS 500 can include multiple transceivers 510implementing different RATs (e.g., NR and LTE). In an embodiment, the BS500 can include a single transceiver 510 implementing multiple RATs(e.g., NR and LTE). In an embodiment, the transceiver 510 can includevarious components, where different combinations of components canimplement different RATs.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary network unit 600according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The network unit 600may be a core network component of a core network such as the corenetwork 230 discussed above in FIG. 2. A shown, the network unit 600 mayinclude a processor 602, a memory 604, a network slicing module 608, anda transceiver 610 including a modem subsystem 612 and a frontend unit614. These elements may be in direct or indirect communication with eachother, for example via one or more buses.

The processor 602 may have various features as a specific-typeprocessor. For example, these may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, acontroller, a FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device,or any combination thereof configured to perform the operationsdescribed herein. The processor 602 may also be implemented as acombination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The memory 604 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of theprocessor 602), RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, asolid state memory device, one or more hard disk drives, memristor-basedarrays, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or acombination of different types of memory. In some embodiments, thememory 604 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thememory 604 may store instructions 606. The instructions 606 may includeinstructions that, when executed by the processor 602, cause theprocessor 602 to perform operations described herein, for example,aspects of FIGS. 3 and 7-10. Instructions 606 may also be referred to ascode, which may be interpreted broadly to include any type ofcomputer-readable statement(s) as discussed above with respect to FIG.4.

The network slicing module 608 may be implemented via hardware,software, or combinations thereof. For example, the network slicingmodule 608 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/orinstructions 606 stored in the memory 604 and executed by the processor602. The network slicing module 608 may be used for various aspects ofthe present disclosure, for example, aspects of FIGS. FIGS. 3 and 7-10.For example, the network slicing module 608 is configured to receive,from a UE (e.g., the UEs 115, 215, and/or 400) via a BS (e.g., the BSs105, 205, and/or 500) in a first cell frequency (e.g., the frequencycarrier 220), a network registration request indicating one or morenetwork slices (e.g., eMBB slices and/or URLLC slices similar to thenetwork slices 250 and 252) of the network, determine that a firstnetwork slice (e.g., a URLLC slice) of the one or more requested networkslices is not supported the first cell frequency that UE is on,determine that the first network slice is supported by a second cellfrequency (e.g., the frequency carrier 222) of the network, transmit, tothe UE, a network registration response indicating that the firstnetwork slice is allowed while the requested network slice is notprovided by the first cell frequency based on the second cell frequencyproviding the first network slice, receive, from the UE, a request for aPDU session over the first network slice, transmit, to the BS, a PDUsession resource setup request, receive, from the BS, a PDU sessionresource setup response, receive, from the UE, a request to activate thePDU session, participate in a handover of the UE to the second cellfrequency, a dual-connectivity of the UE with the second cell frequency,or a carrier aggregation of the UE with second cell frequency.

In an embodiment, the network slicing module 608 is configured toreceive, from a UE via a BS in a first cell frequency, a request toestablish a PDU session for a first service not supported by the firstcell frequency, transmit, to the UE a PDU session establishment responseaccepting the PDU session establishment request, receive, from the UE, arequest to activate the PDU session, transmit, to the BS, a PDU sessionresource setup request (to setup resources and/or QoS flow for servingthe PDU session), receive, from the BS, a PDU session resource setupresponse, and/or participate in a handover of the UE to a second cellfrequency of the network that support the PDU session, adual-connectivity of the UE with the second cell frequency, or a carrieraggregation of the UE with second cell frequency. The PDU sessionresources setup response may include an indication that the PDU sessionresource setup request is accepted. Alternatively, the PDU sessionresources setup response may include an indication that the PDU sessionresource setup request is rejected and a cause or reason of therejection (e.g., due to an on-demand URLLC has been triggered or aservice-based mobility has been triggered). Upon receiving a PDU sessionresources setup rejection, the network slicing module 608 is configuredto re-initiate the QoS flow setup and/or PDU session resource setupafter the handover, dual-connectivity, or carrier aggregation.Mechanisms for provisioning on-demand URLLC services are described ingreater detail herein.

As shown, the transceiver 610 may include the modem subsystem 612 andthe frontend unit 614. The transceiver 610 can be configured tocommunicate bi-directionally with other devices, such as the BSs 105,205, and 600 and/or another core network element. The modem subsystem612 may be configured to modulate and/or encode data according to a MCS,e.g., a LDPC coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutionalcoding scheme, etc. The frontend unit 614 may includeelectrical-to-optical (E/O) components and/or optical-to-electrical(O/E) components that convert an electrical signal to an optical signalfor transmission to a BS such as the BSs 105, 210, and 220 and/orreceive an optical signal from the BS and convert the optical signalinto an electrical signal, respectively. The frontend unit 614 may beconfigured to process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion ordigital to analog conversion, optical to electrical conversion orelectrical to optical conversion, etc.) modulated/encoded data from themodem subsystem 612 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissionsoriginating from another source such as a backend or core network.Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 610, the modemsubsystem 612 and the frontend unit 614 may be separate devices that arecoupled together at the network unit 600 to enable the network unit 600to communicate with other devices. The frontend unit 614 may transmitoptical signal carrying the modulated and/or processed data over anoptical link such as the links 232. The frontend unit 614 may furtherreceive optical signals carrying data messages and provide the receiveddata messages for processing and/or demodulation at the transceiver 610.

FIG. 7 is a signaling diagram illustrating an on-demand URLLC method 700according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 700may be implemented by a UE, a BS A, and a core network in a networksimilar to the networks 100 and/or 200. The UE may be similar to the UEs115, 215, and/or 400. The BS A may be similar to the BSs 105, 205,and/or 500. The core network may be similar to the core network 230 andmay include one or more network components to the network unit 600. Inan example, the core network may include an AMF component (e.g., thenetwork unit 600) that implements the method 700. As illustrated, themethod 700 includes a number of enumerated steps, but embodiments of themethod 700 may include additional steps before, after, and in betweenthe enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one or more of the enumeratedsteps may be omitted or performed in a different order.

In the method 700, the BS A may operate over a frequency A (e.g., thefrequency carrier 220) supporting an eMBB slice. The eMBB slice may alsobe configured for a frequency B (e.g., the frequency carrier 222) of thenetwork. The eMBB slice may be substantially similar to the networkslices 250 and 252. The eMBB slice may support eMBB and/or voiceservices on the frequency A and may support URLLC services in thefrequency B. In some examples, the frequency B may be additionallyconfigured with another slice B that supports URLLC services for IOTdevices, but may not be used by smartphone devices (e.g., the UE) forURLLC services. The method 700 may begin after the UE has associatedwith the BS A over the frequency A. For example, the UE has completed arandom access procedure with the BS A.

At step 705, the UE transmits a NAS registration request message to thecore network via the BS A. The registration request message may includerequested-NSSAI requesting for an eMBB slice.

At step 710, the core network transmits a NAS registration accept orresponse message to the UE via the BS A. The NAS registration responsemessage may include allowed NSSAI indicating the eMBB slice.

At step 715, the UE receives a request for a URLLC service. The requestmay be initiated by an application requiring the URLLC service or by ahigher layer operating system (OS) of the UE.

At step 720, upon receiving the URLLC service request from theapplication or higher layer OS, the UE performs a PDU sessionestablishment for URLLC with BS A and the core network. For example, theUE may transmit a PDU session establishment request message to request aPDU session for URLLC. The PDU session establishment request message mayinclude S-NSSAI indicating the allowed NSSAI for the current access onthe frequency A. Additionally, the PDU session establishment requestmessage may include a domain network name (DNN) for the requested PDUsession. For example, the S-NSSAI may indicate eMBB and the DNN mayindicate URLLC.

In response, the core network may transmit a PDU session establishmentresponse message to the UE. The PDU session establishment responsemessage may indicate a successful PDU session establishment. The PDUsession establishment response message may indicate a PDU sessionidentifier (ID) for the PDU session. However, when the UE is on thefrequency A, the URLLC PDU session is in a dormant mode or inactivemode. There is no user plane (U-plane) resources allocated to the URLLCPDU session.

At step 725, the UE detected arrival of URLLC traffic from theapplication. The URLLC traffic can include UL data and/or DL data. ULURLLC data can be generated by the UE's application requiring the URLLCservice. DL URLLC data can be generated by an application server (e.g.,an IoT server) as described in greater detail herein.

At step 730, upon detecting the arrival of UL URLLC data, the UEtransmits a NAS service request message to the core network via the BSA. The NAS service request message may request U-plane activation of theURLLC PDU session. The NAS service request message may indicate the PDUsession ID assigned to the URLLC PDU session. It should be noted that ifthe UE has not already established a URLLC PDU session with the networkupon the arrival of the URLLC traffic, the UE may establish the URLLCPDU session upon the arrival of the URLLC traffic.

At step 735, upon the receiving the NAS service request for the URLLCPDU session, the core network transmits a PDU session resources setuprequest message to the BS A. The PDU session resources setup requestmessage may request the BS A to configure data radio bearer (DRB)resources and/or any other U-plane resources required for communicatingdata over the URLLC PDU session. Additionally or alternatively, the PDUsession resources setup request message may request the BS A to modifycertain configured radio resources to support the URLLC PDU session.

In some examples, the PDU session resources setup request message mayindicate a 5G quality of service identifier (5QI) identifying a certainquality of service (QoS) flow and/or S-NSSAI required for the URLLC PDUsession. For example, when the URLLC PDU session was established, theURLLC PDU session may be configured with a default QoS flow, which maybe a non-guaranteed bit rate (non-GBR) QoS flow. However, URLLC trafficmay require GBR QoS flow. Thus, the PDU session resource setup requestmessage may request the BS A to setup a GBR QoS flow for serving theURLLC PDU session.

As described above, URLLC traffic can include DL data generated by anapplication server. Thus, a mobile originating (MO) service request(e.g., from the UE) and/or a mobile terminating (MT) service request(e.g., from the application server) may trigger URLLC QoS flow setup.

At step 740, upon receiving the PDU session resources setup requestmessage, the BS A may configure radio resources as instructed by thecore network. Depending on the 5QI and/or the S-NSSAI, the BS A maydirect the UE to a URLLC capable frequency carrier (e.g., the frequencyB). In an example, the BS A may instruct the UE to handover to thefrequency B. In an example, the BS A may instruct the UE to perform adual-connectivity with the frequency B. In an example, the BS A mayinstruct the UE to perform a carrier aggregation with the frequency B.Handover refers to switching the UE to the frequency B (e.g., served bythe BS B over the frequency B). Dual-connectivity refers to configuringthe UE with a secondary cell (SCell) over the frequency B served by theBS B. Carrier aggregation refers to configure the UE with a SCell overthe frequency B served by the BS A.

At step 745, after completing the radio resource configuration, thehandover, the carrier aggregation configuration, or thedual-connectivity configuration, the BS A may transmit a PDU sessionresource setup response message to the core network.

In an example, the BS A may accept the URLLC QoS flow setup and/or thePDU session request and initiate the handover or redirection (e.g., thedual-connectivity or carrier aggregation configuration). In anotherexample, the BS A may reject the URLLC QoS flow setup and/or the PDUsession request. When the BS A includes a rejection response in the PDUsession resource setup response message, the BS A may include a reasonor cause of the rejection so that the core network (e.g., a SMFcomponent of the core network) may re-initiate the QoS flow setup and/orPDU session setup after the handover or redirection.

The BS A may indicate various causes for rejecting the PDU sessionresource setup. For example, a first cause-value may indicate that therejection is due to an on-demand URLLC has been triggered and a secondcause-value may indicate a service-based mobility has been triggered.The on-demand URLLC triggered cause may be used to indicate that ahandover or redirection of the UE is in progress for setting up a URLLCPDU session. The service-based mobility triggered cause may be used toindicate that a handover or redirection of the UE is in progress forsetting up a PDU session for a particular service. In some examples, thecause may indicate that the rejection is due to a NG intra-systemhandover has been triggered, a NG inter-system handover has beentriggered, a Xn handover (e.g., BS to BS handover) has been triggered, anon-supported 5QI value, and/or an Internet multimedia system (IMS)voice evolved packet system (EPS) fallback or radio access technology(RAT) fallback triggered. In some examples, the rejection cause may beindicated in a radio network layer information element (IE) as describedin 3GPP document TS 38.413 Release 15, titled “3^(rd) GenerationPartnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network;NG-RAN; NG Application Protocol (NGAP),” July, 2019, which isincorporated herein by reference. In general, the BS A may indicate anyof the causes described in the 3GPP document TS 38.413 and/or theadditional on-demand URLLC triggered cause and service-based mobilitytriggered cause described above.

At step 750, upon receiving the PDU session resource setup responsemessage with an accept response, the core network may transmit a NASservice accept message to the UE via the BS A. If the PDU sessionresource setup response message with a rejection and a cause of therejection, the core network may re-initiate the QoS flow setup and/orPDU session setup for URLLC. The core network may determine there-initiation based on the cause.

After the UE is on the frequency B (e.g., in communication with thenetwork via the frequency B) via the handover, the dual-connectivity, orthe carrier aggregation, the UE may communicate the URLLC data in thePDU session over the eMBB slice in the frequency B. As can be observedfrom the method 700, the UE can establish and activate the URLLC PDUsession requiring the URLLC service while the UE is on the frequency A(e.g., in communication with the BS A). The URLLC PDU session activationis completed after the UE is on the frequency B.

In an example, the UE may establish a PDU session for communicating eMBBtraffic over the eMBB slice on frequency A. The UE may receive the URLLCtraffic (e.g., as shown in the step 725) during the eMBB PDU session.The method 700 allows the UE to establish a PDU session for URLLC (e.g.,the step 720) or activate U-plane of the PDU session (e.g., the step730) while the eMBB PDU session is in progress on frequency A.Accordingly, the method 700 can provide on-demand URLLC services using asingle eMBB slice over multiple frequencies.

In an example, the method 700 can be applied in a network deploymentwith a 2.6 GHz carrier (e.g., the frequency A) and a 4.9 GHz carrier(e.g., the frequency B), where the 2.6 GHz carrier is configured foreMBB slices (e.g., the network slices 250) serving eMBB services andvoice services and the 4.9 GHz carrier is configured for eMBB slicesserving URLLC services.

While the method 700 is described in the context of the eMBB and URLLCservices, where UE requests a URLLC service on-demand while incommunication with an eMBB frequency and/or slice, the method 700 can beapplied to any suitable types of services to provide on-demand services.

FIG. 8 is a signaling diagram illustrating an on-demand URLLC method 800according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 800may be implemented by a UE, a BS A, and a core network in a networksimilar to the networks 100 and/or 200. The UE may be similar to the UEs115, 215, and/or 400. The BS A may be similar to the BSs 105, 205,and/or 500. The core network may be similar to the core network 230 andmay include one or more network components to the network unit 600. Inan example, the core network may include an AMF component (e.g., thenetwork unit 600) that implements the method 700. As illustrated, themethod 700 includes a number of enumerated steps, but embodiments of themethod 700 may include additional steps before, after, and in betweenthe enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one or more of the enumeratedsteps may be omitted or performed in a different order.

In the method 800, the BS A may operate over a frequency A (e.g., thefrequency carrier 220) supporting a slice A (e.g., an eMBB slice). Thenetwork may include a slice B on a frequency B (e.g., the frequencycarrier 222) of the network supporting a slice B (e.g., a URLLC slice).The method 700 may begin after the UE has associated with the BS A overthe frequency A. The frequency A may be under a tracking area with atracking area code (TAC) 1. The frequency B may be under anothertracking area with a TAC 2 different from the TAC 1. In other words, the2.6 GHz carrier and the 4.9 GHz carrier may be serving differenttracking areas.

The method 800 may begin after the UE has associated with the BS A overthe frequency A. For example, the UE has completed a random accessprocedure with the BS A. At step 805, the UE transmits a NASregistration request message to the core network via the BS A in thefrequency A. The registration request message may includerequested-NSSAI requesting for a slice A and a slice B.

At step 810, upon receiving the NAS registration request message, thecore network determines determine that the slice A is supported in thecurrent frequency A. Additionally, the core network determines thatslice B is not supported in the frequency B, but can be supported via ahandover, a dual-connectivity, or a carrier aggregation based on needs(e.g., on-demand based upon a PDU session request from the UE). In anexample, the core network may have information associated with networkslice-to-frequency mapping based on NG setup request and/or NG setupresponse exchange with BSs (e.g., the BSs 105, 205, and/or 500). The NGsetup request and/or NG setup response exchange may be substantiallysimilar to the steps 310 and 320 of the method 300.

At step 815, the core network transmits a NAS registration accept orresponse message to the UE via the BS A. The NAS registration responsemessage may include allowed NSSAI indicating that the slice A and theslice B are allowed. In a typical NAS registration process, the allowedNSSAI may not include slice B since slice B is not provided by thecurrent frequency A. However, based on the network slice-to-frequencyinformation that the core network obtained, the core network identifiedthat the slice B is provided by the frequency B. Accordingly, the corenetwork includes the slice B in the allowed NSSAI when responding to theNAS registration request

At step 820, the UE performs a PDU session establishment for the slice Awith BS A and the core network. For example, the UE may transmit, to thecore network, a PDU session establishment request message to request aPDU session for a service (e.g., an eMBB service) over the slice A. ThePDU session establishment request message may include S-NSSAI indicatingthe slice A.

At step 825, the UE transmits a PDU session establishment requestmessage to the core network requesting a PDU session over the slice B.The PDU session establishment request message include S-NSSAI indicatingthe slice B.

At step 830, upon receiving the PDU session establishment requestmessage, the core network transmits a PDU session resource setup requestmessage to the BS A. The PDU session resource setup request message mayrequest the BS A to setup resources for slice B.

At step 835, in response to the PDU session resource setup requestmessage, the BS A transmits a PDU session resource setup responsemessage to the core network. The PDU session resource setup responsemessage may indicate a failure since the BS A does not support the sliceB over the frequency A. The PDU session resource setup response messagemay indicate a cause or reason for the failure and indicate that ahandover trigger is required.

At step 840, upon receiving the PDU session resource setup responsemessage, the core network transmits a PDU session establishment responsemessage to the UE via the BS A in the frequency A. The core network mayaccept the PDU session establishment request, but may the PDU sessionestablishment response message may indicate that the PDU sessionestablished for the slice B is in a dormant state or inactive mode.There is no resource (e.g., U-plane resources) allocated to the PDUsession. The PDU session establishment response message may indicate aPDU session ID for the established PDU session.

At step 845, the UE received URLLC traffic, for example, from anapplication of the UE.

At step 850, upon detecting the arrival of the URLLC traffic, the UEtransmit a NAS service request message to the core network. The NASservice request message may indicate the PDU session ID for the slice B.

At step 855, BS A may instruct the UE to perform a handover to thefrequency B. Alternatively, the BS A may configure the UE fordual-connectivity or carrier aggregation with the frequency B. The UEmay perform the handover, dual-connectivity, or carrier aggregation asinstructed by the BS A and in coordination with the BS A, the BS B,and/or the core network. For handover, the UE may switch to be served bythe BS B over the frequency B. For dual-connectivity, the UE maycontinue to be served by the BS A over the frequency A and additionallyserved by the BS B over the frequency B. For carrier aggregation, the UEmay continue to be served by the BS A over the frequency A andadditionally served by the BS A over the frequency B.

After the UE is on the frequency B (e.g., in communication with thenetwork via the frequency B) via the handover, the dual-connectivity, orthe carrier aggregation, the UE may communicate the URLLC data in thePDU session over the slice B in the frequency B.

Similar to the method 700, the transmission of the PDU session resourcesetup message from the core network to the BS can be triggered by a NASservice request, a URLLC QoS flow setup, and/or a URLLC PDU sessionsetup transmitted by the UE.

As can be observed from the method 800, the UE can establish andactivate a PDU session for the slice B while the UE is on the frequencyA (e.g., in communication with the BS A). The PDU session activation forthe slice B is completed after the UE is on the frequency B. Further,the UE may have an ongoing PDU session on the slice A (e.g., forcommunicating eMBB data) when UE requests for a PDU session on slice B(e.g., for communicating URLLC data). Accordingly, the method 800 canprovide the UE with on-demand URLLC services while the UE is on afrequency that does not provide the URLLC slices by including URLLCslices in allowed NSSAI based on availability of the URLLC slices inanother frequency of the network.

In an example, the method 800 can be applied in a network deploymentwith a 2.6 GHz carrier (e.g., the frequency A) and a 4.9 GHz carrier(e.g., the frequency B), where the 2.6 GHz carrier is configured foreMBB slices (e.g., the network slices 250) serving eMBB services andvoice services and the 4.9 GHz carrier is configured for URLLC slicesserving URLLC services. In some examples, the 4.9 GHz carrier may alsobe configured for eMBB slices so that the 4.9 GHz carrier can provideconcurrent URLLC services and eMBB services. In some examples, the 2.6GHz carrier may be in a tracking area with a TAC 1 and the 4.9 GHzcarrier may be in a tracing area with a TAC 2 different from the TAC 1.In other words, the 2.6 GHz carrier and the 4.9 GHz carrier may beserving different tracking areas.

While the method 800 is described in the context of the eMBB and URLLCservices, where UE requests a URLLC service on-demand while incommunication with an eMBB frequency and/or slice, the method 800 can beapplied to any suitable types of services to provide on-demand service.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a communication method 900 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 900 can beexecuted by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuit,and/or other suitable component) or other suitable means for performingthe steps. For example, a network entity, such as the BS 105, 205,and/or 500, may utilize one or more components, such as the processor502, the memory 504, the network slicing module 508, the transceiver510, the modem 512, and the one or more antennas 516, to execute thesteps of method 900. Alternatively, a network entity, such as a corenetwork 230 and/or the network unit 600, may utilize one or morecomponents, such as the processor 602, the memory 604, the networkslicing module 608, the transceiver 610, the modem 612, and the frontend614, to execute the steps of method 900. The method 900 may employsimilar mechanisms as in the methods 300, 700, and/or 800 describedabove with respect to FIGS. 3, 7, and/or 8, respectively. Asillustrated, the method 900 includes a number of enumerated steps, butembodiments of the method 900 may include additional steps before,after, and in between the enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one ormore of the enumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a differentorder.

At step 910, the method 900 includes receiving, by a network entity froma UE in a first cell frequency (e.g., the frequency carrier 220) of anetwork (e.g., the networks 100 and/or 200), a network registrationrequest message indicating a network slice (e.g., the network slices252) of the network that is not provided by the first cell frequency.

At step 920, the method 900 includes transmitting, by the network entityto the UE in response to the network registration request message, anetwork registration response message indicating the network slice isallowed based on a second cell frequency (e.g., the cell frequency 222)of the network providing the network slice requested.

In an embodiment, the network entity corresponds to a BS (e.g., the BSs105, 205, and/or 500). In such an embodiment, the network entity mayrelay or forward the network registration request message e to a corenetwork entity (e.g., the core network 230 and/or the network unit 600).The network entity may relay network registration response message fromthe core network entity to the UE.

In an embodiment, the network entity corresponds to a core network(e.g., the core network 230 and/or the network unit 600). In such anembodiment, the network entity may receive the network registrationrequest message from the UE via a BS (e.g., the BSs 105, 205, and/or500) operating over the first cell frequency. The network entity maytransmit the network registration response message to the UE via the BS.

In an embodiment, the network registration request is a NAS networkregistration request and the transmitting includes transmitting, by thenetwork entity to the UE, the network registration response messageincluding allowed NSSAI indicating the network slice requested, forexample, as shown in the method 800.

In an embodiment, the network entity further determines which cellfrequency of the network provides the network slice requested inresponse to the network registration request message, the second cellfrequency identified based on the determining.

In an embodiment, the network entity further receives, the UE, a NAS PDUsession establishment request message indicating the network slice. Thenetwork entity further transmits, to the UE in the first cell frequency,a NAS PDU session establishment response message indicating an inactivePDU session mode (e.g., dormant) in response to the NAS PDU sessionestablishment request message. In an embodiment, the network entityfurther communicates, with the UE, data in a PDU session over anothernetwork slice of the network in the first cell frequency and the PDUsession establishment request message may be received during the PDUsession over the another network slice. In an embodiment, the networkslice is a URLLC slice and the another network slice is a eMBB slice.

In an embodiment, when the network entity corresponds to a BS, thenetwork entity forwards the PDU session establishment request message toa core network entity and receives, from the core network entity, a PDUsession resource setup request message indicating the network slice. Thenetwork entity further transmits, to the core network entity, a PDUsession resource setup response message indicating a failure statusbased on the network slice not provided by the first cell frequency.

In an embodiment, when the network entity corresponds to a core networkentity, the network entity receives the PDU session establishmentrequest message via a BS and transmits, to the BS, a PDU sessionresource setup request message indicating the network slice. The networkentity further receives, from the BS, a PDU session resource setupresponse message indicating a failure status based on the network slicenot provided by the first cell frequency.

In an embodiment, the network entity further receives, from the UE, atleast one of a service request message indicating the network slice, aPDU session activation message indicating the network slice, or a flowsetup request message indicating the network slice. The network entityfurther transmits, to the UE, an instruction to perform at least one ofa handover to the second cell frequency, a dual-connectivity with thesecond cell frequency, or a carrier aggregation with the second cellfrequency based on the at least one of the service request message, thePDU session activation message, or the flow setup request message.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a communication method 1000 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 1000 canbe executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processingcircuit, and/or other suitable component) or other suitable means forperforming the steps. For example, a network entity, such as the BS 105,205, and/or 500, may utilize one or more components, such as theprocessor 502, the memory 504, the network slicing module 508, thetransceiver 510, the modem 512, and the one or more antennas 516, toexecute the steps of method 1000. Alternatively, a network entity, suchas a core network 230 and/or the network unit 600, may utilize one ormore components, such as the processor 602, the memory 604, the networkslicing module 608, the transceiver 610, the modem 612, and the frontend614, to execute the steps of method 1000. The method 1000 may employsimilar mechanisms as in the methods 300, 700, and/or 800 describedabove with respect to FIGS. 3, 7, and/or 8, respectively. Asillustrated, the method 1000 includes a number of enumerated steps, butembodiments of the method 1000 may include additional steps before,after, and in between the enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one ormore of the enumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a differentorder.

At step 1010, the method 1000 includes receiving, by a first networkentity from a UE (e.g., the UEs 115, 215, and/or 400), in a first cellfrequency (e.g., the frequency carrier 220), a request for acommunication session (e.g., a PDU session for URLLC) not supported by anetwork slice (e.g., the network slices 250 and 252) on the first cellfrequency.

At step 1020, the method 1000 includes communicating, by the firstnetwork entity with a second network entity, a resource configurationrequest (e.g., a NAS PDU session resource setup request) based on thecommunication session requested.

At step 1030, the method 1000 includes communicating, by the firstnetwork entity with the second network entity, a resource configurationresponse (e.g., a NAS PDU session resource setup response) indicating acause for rejecting the resource configuration request.

In an embodiment, the first network entity corresponds to a BS (e.g.,the BSs 105, 205, and/or 500) and the second network entity correspondsto a core network (e.g., the core network 230 and/or the network unit600). In such an embodiment, the first network entity receives, from thesecond network entity, the resource configuration request. The firstnetwork entity transmits, to the second network entity, the resourceconfiguration response.

In an embodiment, the first network entity corresponds to a core network(e.g., the core network 230 and/or the network unit 600) and the secondnetwork entity corresponds to a BS (e.g., the BSs 105, 205, and/or 500).In such an embodiment, the first network entity transmits, to the secondnetwork entity, the resource configuration request. The first networkentity receives, from the second network entity, the resourceconfiguration response.

In an embodiment, the communicating the resource configuration responseincludes communicating, by the first network entity with the secondnetwork entity, the resource configuration response indicating that theresource configuration request is rejected based on an on-demand URLLC.

In an embodiment, the communicating the resource configuration responseincludes communicating, by the first network entity with the secondnetwork entity, the resource configuration response indicating that theresource configuration request is rejected based on a service-basedmobility.

In an embodiment, the first network entity further participates in atleast one of a handover of the UE to a second cell frequency, adual-connectivity of the UE with the second cell frequency, or acarrier-aggregation of the UE with the second cell frequency based onthe communication session requested.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a communication method 1100 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 1100 canbe executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processingcircuit, and/or other suitable component) of a wireless communicationdevice or other suitable means for performing the steps. For example, awireless communication device, such as the UE 115, UE 215, and/or UE400, may utilize one or more components, such as the processor 402, thememory 404, the network slicing module 408, the transceiver 410, themodem 412, and the one or more antennas 416, to execute the steps ofmethod 1100. The method 1100 may employ similar mechanisms as in themethods 300, 700, and/or 800 described above with respect to FIGS. 3, 7,and/or 8, respectively. As illustrated, the method 1100 includes anumber of enumerated steps, but embodiments of the method 1100 mayinclude additional steps before, after, and in between the enumeratedsteps. In some embodiments, one or more of the enumerated steps may beomitted or performed in a different order.

At step 1110, the method 1100 includes transmitting, by a UE in a firstcell frequency (e.g., the frequency carrier 220) of a network (e.g., thenetworks 100 and/or 200), a network registration request messageindicating a network slice (e.g., the network slices 252) of the networkthat is not provided by the first cell frequency.

At step 1120, the method 1100 includes receiving, by the UE in responseto the network registration request message, a network registrationresponse message indicating the network slice is allowed based on asecond cell frequency (e.g., the cell frequency 222) of the networkproviding the network slice requested.

In an embodiment, the receiving includes receiving, by the UE, thenetwork registration response message including allowed network sliceselection assistance information (NSSAI) indicating the network slicerequested, for example, as shown in the method 800.

In an embodiment, the UE further transmits, in the first cell frequency,a NAS PDU session establishment request message indicating the networkslice. The UE further receives, in the first cell frequency, a NAS PDUsession establishment response message indicating an inactive PDUsession mode (e.g., dormant mode) in response to the PDU sessionestablishment request message.

In an embodiment, the UE further receives application data (e.g., URLLCdata). The UE transmits, in the first cell frequency in response to theapplication data received, at least one of a NAS service request messageindicating the network slice, a NAS PDU session activation messageindicating the network slice, or a QoS flow setup request messageindicating the network slice. The UE further receives, in the first cellfrequency, an instruction to perform at least one of a handover to thesecond cell frequency, a dual-connectivity with the second cellfrequency, or to perform a carrier aggregation with the second cellfrequency.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a communication method 1200 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 1200 canbe executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processingcircuit, and/or other suitable component) or other suitable means forperforming the steps. For example, a network entity, such as a corenetwork 230 and/or the network unit 600, may utilize one or morecomponents, such as the processor 602, the memory 604, the networkslicing module 608, the transceiver 610, the modem 612, and the frontend614, to execute the steps of method 1200. The method 1200 may employsimilar mechanisms as in the methods 300, 700, and/or 800 describedabove with respect to FIGS. 3, 7, and/or 8, respectively. Asillustrated, the method 1200 includes a number of enumerated steps, butembodiments of the method 1200 may include additional steps before,after, and in between the enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one ormore of the enumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a differentorder.

At step 1210, the method 1200 includes receiving, by the core networkentity from a UE (e.g., the UEs 115, 215, and/or 400), a request for aPDU session over a network slice (e.g., the network slices 250 and 252).

At step 1220, the method 1200 includes transmitting, by the core networkentity to a BS (e.g., the BSs 105, 205, and/or 500), a resourceconfiguration request for PDU session over the network slice.

At step 1230, the method 1200 includes receiving, by the core networkentity from the BS, a resource configuration response indicating a causefor rejecting the resource configuration request.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a communication method 1300 according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure. Steps of the method 1300 canbe executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processingcircuit, and/or other suitable component) or other suitable means forperforming the steps. For example, a network entity, such as the BS 105,205, and/or 500, may utilize one or more components, such as theprocessor 502, the memory 504, the network slicing module 508, thetransceiver 510, the modem 512, and the one or more antennas 516, toexecute the steps of method 1300. The method 1300 may employ similarmechanisms as in the methods 300, 700, and/or 800 described above withrespect to FIGS. 3, 7, and/or 8, respectively. As illustrated, themethod 1300 includes a number of enumerated steps, but embodiments ofthe method 1300 may include additional steps before, after, and inbetween the enumerated steps. In some embodiments, one or more of theenumerated steps may be omitted or performed in a different order.

At step 1310, the method 1300 includes receiving, by the BS from a UE(e.g., the UEs 115, 215, and/or 400), a request for a PDU session over anetwork slice (e.g., the network slices 250 and 252).

At step 1330, the method 1300 includes receiving, by the BS from a corenetwork entity (e.g., the core network 230 and/or the network unit 600),a resource configuration request for PDU session over the network slice.

At step 1330, the method 1300 includes receiving, by the BS from thecore network entity, a resource configuration response indicating acause for rejecting the resource configuration request.

An improved system and apparatus for Network Assistance for TrafficHandling in Downlink Streaming will now be discussed. The 5G MediaStreaming (5GMS) Architecture allows external content and serviceproviders to create an Ingest and Distribution configuration for theircontent distribution needs. An Ingest and Distribution Configuration(IDC) is optimized for media distribution over 5GS. It leverages thecapabilities of the 5GS to offer a custom-made distribution that meetsthe needs and resources of the media service provider.

Upon a successful setup of an Ingest and Distribution configuration, theMNO creates or uses an existing corresponding network slice that will beused to serve the content of that IDC. A process for selecting theappropriate network slice will now be discussed.

Network Slice Assignment and Selection

Upon setting up an IDC, the content/service provider is offered theoption to associate a network slice with a custom QoS profile. The QoSprofile may be of type GBR, delay-critical GBR, or Non-GBR. For GBRflows, the QoS profile provides the GFBR and MFBR and the window overwhich the bitrate is calculated. These QoS parameters may be customizedby the Service provider to best suit the needs of the offered service.Alternatively, the service provider may choose to distribute its contentusing the standardized eMBB slice with a non-GBR flow.

The IDC is then associated with a Network Slice Selection AssistanceInformation (NSSAI) that identifies the corresponding network slice. UEsthat are allowed by the IDC will receive the NSSAI as part of theNetwork Slice Selection Policy (NSSP) in the User Route Selection Policy(URSP), which is sent by the PCF to the UE.

Upon setting up a PDP session, the UE will check the URSP rules toretrieve the route selection descriptor that matches the selectionrules. The route selection rules may be depicted by the following table:

TABLE 1 PCF permitted to Information modify in a name DescriptionCategory UE context Scope Rule Determines the order Mandatory Yes UEcontext Precedence the URSP rule is (NOTE 1) enforced in the UE. TrafficThis part defines the Mandatory descriptor Traffic descriptor (NOTE 3)components for the URSP rule. Application It consists of OSId OptionalYes UE context descriptors and OSAppId(s). (NOTE 2) IP Destination IP 3Optional Yes UE context descriptors tuple(s) (IP address or (NOTE 5)IPv6 network prefix, port number, protocol ID of the protocol above IP).Domain Destination FQDN(s) Optional Yes UE context descriptors Non-IPDescriptor(s) for Optional Yes UE context descriptors destination (NOTE5) information of non-IP traffic DNN This is matched Optional Yes UEcontext against the DNN information provided by the application. RuleDetermines the order Mandatory Yes UE context Precedence the URSP ruleis (NOTE 1) enforced in the UE. Connection This is matched Optional YesUE context Capabilities against the information provided by a UEapplication when it requests a network connection with certaincapabilities. (NOTE 4) List of A list of Route Mandatory Route SelectionDescriptors. Selection The components of a Descriptors Route SelectionDescriptor are described in table 6.6.2.1-3.

For a service provider, steering related traffic can be simply performedby setting a corresponding domain descriptor, in which it cites itsdistribution FQDN as a matching parameter. Alternatively the serviceprovider may define an Application descriptor (consisting of an OSId andan OSAppId) or the IP descriptor as the filtering criteria.

The matching Route Selection descriptor contains, among otherinformation, the network slice selection with the S-NSSAI as shown inthe following table.

TABLE 2 PCF permitted to Information modify in name Description CategoryURSP Scope Route Determines the order Mandatory Yes UE context Selectionin which the Route (NOTE 1) Descriptor Selection Descriptors Precedenceare to be applied. Route This part defines the Mandatory selection routeselection (NOTE 2) components components SSC Mode One single value ofOptional Yes UE context Selection SSC mode. (NOTE 5) Network Either asingle value Optional Yes UE context Slice or a list of values of (NOTE3) Selection S-NSSAI(s). DNN Either a single value Optional Yes UEcontext Selection or a list of values of DNN(s). PDU Session One singlevalue of Optional Yes UE context Type PDU Session Type Selection Non-Indicates if the traffic Optional Yes UE context Seamless of thematching (NOTE 4) Offload application is to be indication offloaded tonon- 3GPP access outside of a PDU Session. Access Type Indicates thepreferred Optional Yes UE context preference Access Type (3GPP ornon-3GPP or Multi-Access) when the UE establishes a PDU Session for thematching application. Route This part defines the Optional SelectionRoute Validation Validation Criteria components Criteria (NOTE 6) TimeThe time window Optional Yes UE context Window when the matching trafficis allowed. The RSD is not considered to be valid if the current time isnot in the time window. Location The UE location Optional Yes UE contextCriteria where the matching traffic is allowed. The RSD rule is notconsidered to be valid if the UE location does not match the locationcriteria.

Once the UE determines the DNN and S-NSSAI that it will use for acertain connection/application, it can start the PDU sessionestablishment procedure and provide the requested S-NSSAI(s). If the UEis allowed to use the requested NSSAI, the PDU session will receive theQoS treatment of that network slice.

Network Slice as a Service

The concept of Network Slice as a Service (NSaaS) is defined in 3GPP TS28.530, Management and orchestration; Concepts, use cases andrequirements. NSaaS can be offered by an MNO to 3^(rd) party providersin the form of a service. This service allows the providers to use thenetwork slice instance as the end user and to manage the network sliceinstance via a management interface exposed by the MNO.

In turn, these providers offer their own services, e.g. OTT service, ontop of the network slice instance obtained from the MNO.

The NSaaS offered by the MNO can be characterized by certain properties(capabilities to satisfy service level requirements), for example: radioaccess technology, bandwidth, end-to-end latency, reliability,guaranteed/non-guaranteed QoS, security level, etc.

The interface that is used for the creation and management of networkslices is defined in 3GPP TS 28.531, Management and orchestration;Provisioning and the information elements are defined in 3GPP TS 28.541,Management and orchestration; 5G Network Resource Model (NRM); Stage 2and stage 3.

Fine Granular Differentiation

S-NSSAI

An IDC may be offered to a wide range of devices with differentrendering and processing capabilities. For instance, a UE may offermultiple options to the user to consume the service, e.g. it may offerto render the service on the UE directly or may offer to render it on anexternal, more capable, screen. The user may switch between the twodisplays during the same session. An example of this scenario is asfollows: a user is watching a video using a popular OTT service on hersmartphone on her way home. Once she arrives at home, the user decidesto cast the same video to her 8K TV in the living room.

To address such a scenario, a single IDC may be associated with a set ofS-NSSAIs, that share the same filtering rules but differ in the QoSprofiles that will be applied to the flows. The S-NSSAI has thefollowing syntax:

TABLE 3 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 S-NSSAI IEI octet 1 Length of S-NSSAI contentsoctet 2 SST octet 3 SD octet 4* octet 6* Mapped HPLMN SST octet 7*Mapped HPLMN SD octet 8* octet 10*

The group of the S-NSSAIs for a particular IDC will share the sameSlice/Service Type (SST), but they will differ in the SliceDifferentiator (SD).

Mapping of Slice Differentiator

The service provider may define a set of operation points for theservice that it offers as part of the service. Each operation point ismapped into a QoS profile that matches the required resources forreceiving the service at that operation point.

As an example, an OTT service may offer an HD and a 4K representation ofthe video content, described as two different DASH Representations ofthe same AdaptationSet. Each of these representations will result in adifferent set of QoS requirements. When configuring the IDC, the serviceprovider will request the Media AF to allocate a group of two networkslices for this service. The same SST value will be assigned to both.The SD value of the S-NSSAI is mapped to an identifier of the IDC and anidentifier of the operation point as follows:

TABLE 4 IDC Identifier 0 octet 4* IDC Identifier 1 Operation Point Idoctet 6*

The IDC identifier will usually be assigned by the Media AF and the PCFafter successful creation of the IDC. The Operation Point Id is agreedbetween the Media AF and the service provider. However, the serviceprovider is free to map it to a service operation point of its choice.That mapping is then signaled to the UE as part of the servicedescription.

DASH Mapping

If the service is distributed using DASH, the service provider may usethe ServiceDescription element to convey the operating points and theircorresponding identifiers in the MPD. For this purpose, a dedicatedscope is identified as follows:

-   -   @schemeIdUri: “urn:org:3gpp:5g:dash:nssai-sd:op”    -   @value: indicates the operating point identifier as a string.        The value shall be a number between 0-255

The ServiceDescription shall include at least one OperatingBandwidthelement and may contain a Latency element.

Call Flow for Downlink Streaming

The service provider requests the assignment of one or more networkslices for the distribution of the service. The service providerindicates the required QoS parameters that can be derived from theservice information, such as a DASH MPD. These QoS parameters include,among other things, the GFBR, MFBR and the latency for a GBR flow. Uponsuccessful assignment of the network slices for the service, the MediaAF will respond with the list of allowed S-NSSAIs to the serviceprovider. The service provider will signal its offered operation pointsand their mappings to the S-NSSAI in the service description, e.g. inthe DASH MPD as discussed earlier.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example flowchart diagram for a procedureaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The proceduremay include the following.

1. At 1400, the external 5GMSA Application provider requests thecreation of a new Ingest and Distribution Configuration for distributingits content. The 5GMSA Application provider indicates the anticipatedoperation points for the service. An operation point consists of thebandwidth and latency requirements, as well as any other parameters thatmay influence the policy for the sessions of this application (e.g. thecharging profile, coverage area, route selection information, . . . ).

2. At 1402, the Media AF uses the interfaces defined in 3GPP TS 28.531,Management and orchestration; Provisioning to request the creation of anew network slice instance and provision it for the new distributionconfiguration.

3. If successful, the new S-NSSAI is added to the Configured NSSAI (thisrequires a UCU procedure) and stored in the UE profile in the UDM forthe allowed UEs. The NSSF is configured with the S-NSSAI and relatedinformation (this includes information for the AMF to select the SMF).The SMF is configured with the S-NSSAI-related information (e.g. for UPFselection).

4. At 1404, the network confirms the creations of the new networkslice(s) to the Media AF and provides the list of S-NSSAI(s) with theircorresponding parameters.

5. The Ingest and Distribution Configuration is updated with theinformation about the network slices.

6. At 1406, the Media AF confirms successful setup of the Ingest andDistribution Configuration to the Application provider

7. At 1408, the PCF updates the URSP rules on the target set of UE(s),e.g. based on geographical service area of the offered application

8. At 1410, the 5GMSA Player starts or initiates a streaming session byfetching the entry point to the service

9. The Media Session Handler in the UE may retrieve information from theMedia AF to assist with the route selection for the target operationpoint of the session. The Media Session Handler may get informationabout the target operation point from the media player.

10. At 1412, the UE performs the route selection procedure. The UE, whenreceiving a first packet for a new IP flow, checks the URSP rules formatching filters such as the traffic descriptors, the domaindescriptors, or the Application descriptors. The UE will use thematching filter to retrieve the matching Route Selection descriptor,which provides the DNN, and the S-NSSAI(s).

11. At 1414, the UE requests the establishment of a PDU session withthese parameters, if one doesn't exist already. Upon successful PDUsession establishment, the AMF notifies the UE of the assigned QoSprofile for the PDU session. This initiates a media session of thestreaming service with an application server using the sessioninformation.

12. At 1416, the streaming of the media content at the target operationpoint starts. The UE may provide a playback of the media content.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the above description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described above can be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as usedin a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrasesuch as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusivelist such that, for example, a list of [at least one of A, B, or C]means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C).

As those of some skill in this art will by now appreciate and dependingon the particular application at hand, many modifications, substitutionsand variations can be made in and to the materials, apparatus,configurations and methods of use of the devices of the presentdisclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. In lightof this, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited tothat of the particular embodiments illustrated and described herein, asthey are merely by way of some examples thereof, but rather, should befully commensurate with that of the claims appended hereafter and theirfunctional equivalents.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for provisioning a service from anetwork, comprising: requesting session information with desired slicefeatures corresponding to a streaming service; receiving the sessioninformation, wherein the session information includes quality-of-service(QoS) parameters and Network Slice Selection Assistance Information(S-NSSAI) for each of at least two network slices for distribution ofthe streaming service; initiating a media session of the streamingservice with an application server, including selecting a network sliceof the at least two network slices using the session information; andproviding a media playback of the streaming service received in themedia session.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting amedia session route using at least one of: a playback operation point, atraffic descriptor, a domain descriptor, or an application descriptor.3. The method of claim 2, wherein the media session route is furtherselected with information from a media application function.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the at least two network slices are selectedby the media application function and provisioned for the distributionof the streaming service.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:initializing the streaming service by fetching an entry point to mediacontent.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the media playback istriggered by invoking a media player with an entry point to mediacontent of the media session.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein thesession information further includes at least one of: network sliceinformation or a Data Network Name.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinthe network supports 5G Media Streaming (5GMS).
 9. An apparatus forprovisioning a service from a network, comprising: a memory and aprocessor, the processor configured to: request a session informationwith desired slice features corresponding to a streaming service,receive the session information, wherein the session informationincludes quality-of-service (QoS) parameters and Network Slice SelectionAssistance Information (S-NSSAI) for each of at least two network slicesfor distribution of the streaming service, initiate a media session ofthe streaming service with an application server, including selecting anetwork slice of the at least two network slices using the sessioninformation, and provide a media playback of the streaming servicereceived in the media session.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, theprocessor further configured to: select a media session route using atleast one of: a playback operation point, a traffic descriptor, a domaindescriptor, or an application descriptor.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein the media session route is further selected with informationfrom a media application function.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11,wherein the at least two network slices are selected by the mediaapplication function and provisioned for the distribution of thestreaming service.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, the processor furtherconfigured to: initialize the streaming service by fetching an entrypoint to a media content.
 14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein themedia playback is triggered by invoking a media player with an entrypoint to media content of the media session.
 15. The apparatus of claim9, wherein the session information further includes at least one of:network slice information or a Data Network Name.
 16. The apparatus ofclaim 9, wherein the network supports 5G Media Streaming (5GMS).
 17. Anapparatus for provisioning a service from a network, comprising: meansfor requesting a session information with desired slice featurescorresponding to a streaming service, means for receiving the sessioninformation, wherein the session information includes quality-of-service(QoS) parameters and Network Slice Selection Assistance Information(S-NSSAI) for each of at least two network slices for distribution ofthe streaming service, means for initiating a media session of thestreaming service with an application server, including selecting anetwork slice of the at least two network slices using the sessioninformation, and means for providing a media playback of the streamingservice received in the media session.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17,further comprising: means for selecting a media session route using atleast one of: a playback operation point, a traffic descriptor, a domaindescriptor, or an application descriptor.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18,wherein the media session route is further selected with informationfrom a media application function.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19,wherein the at least two network slices are selected by the mediaapplication function and provisioned for the distribution of thestreaming service.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:means for initializing the streaming service by fetching an entry pointto a media content.
 22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the mediaplayback is triggered by invoking a media player with an entry point tomedia content of the media session.
 23. The apparatus of claim 17,wherein the session information further includes at least one of:network slice information or a Data Network Name.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 17, wherein the network supports 5G Media Streaming (5GMS).
 25. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable codefor provisioning a service from a network, the code when executed by aprocessor causes the processor to: request a session information withdesired slice features corresponding to a streaming service, receive thesession information, wherein the session information includesquality-of-service (QoS) parameters and Network Slice SelectionAssistance Information (S-NSSAI) for each of at least two network slicesfor distribution of the streaming service, initiate a media session ofthe streaming service with an application server, including selecting anetwork slice of the at least two network slices using the sessioninformation, and provide a media playback of the streaming servicereceived in the media session.
 26. The medium of claim 25, the code whenexecuted by the processor further causes the processor to: select amedia session route using at least one of: a playback operation point, atraffic descriptor, a domain descriptor, and an application descriptor.27. The medium of claim 26, wherein the media session route is furtherselected with information from a media application function and the atleast two network slices are selected by the media application functionand provisioned for the distribution of the streaming service.
 28. Themedium of claim 27, wherein the code when executed by the processorfurther causes the processor to: initialize the streaming service byfetching an entry point to a media content.
 29. The medium of claim 25,wherein the media playback is triggered by invoking a media player withan entry point to media content of the media session.
 30. The medium ofclaim 25, wherein the session information further includes at least oneof: network slice information or a Data Network Name and the networksupports 5G Media Streaming (5GMS).